Twilight
by Gemini14
Summary: A new threat has made his presence known in Tokyo; a threat Larva knows all too well. The only help they will have is from a vampire known as Shido.
1. Default Chapter

Twilight 

Prologue

Larva sighed as he resigned himself to sitting idly in a tree. Even though it was still spring, summer heat made things miserable and sticky. Larva mentally cursed his long black velvet robe. Thankfully, dusk was coming, and things would cool off somewhat.

"Poor little Larva, all hot and sweaty." A familiar voice taunted.

"Shall I cool him off?" a girl's voice asked.

"Go ahead. It'll be one less shinma to worry about." The first voice sneered. Larva leaped, just before the tree he'd been sitting in was impaled by ice.

"_Reiha!_" Larva thought, as more ice came at him, pinning his robe to the pavement. With a growl, Larva wriggled free of his robe, revealing that he had a gray tunic and black breeches and boots under it. A fraction of a second later, Miyu was by his side.

"Reiha! What do you think you're doing?" Miyu asked, as the ice maiden hovered over them, giving them both a malevolent glare. 

"I'm trying to rid this world of the shinma, like you should be doing!" Reiha replied. 

"What I do is none of your concern, Reiha!" Miyu snapped, as the sun started to set.

"Fascinating! So this is the infamous shinma Guardian!" a man's voice sneered, from the shadows.

"_No_……………._Not him! Not now! Miyu_……………_I must get her out of here!_" Larva thought, as the owner of the voice appeared. With a desperate move, Larva grabbed Miyu and disappeared, leaving Reiha and the newcomer behind.

"Hmph. Seems that Larva's afraid of that other guy." Reiha's doll snickered, as the newcomer glanced up at them, making eye contact with Reiha. Even Reiha shuddered under cold gaze of the man. This was no ordinary man, nor was he a shinma.

"Who or what are you?" Reiha asked, quietly. The newcomer smiled, revealing a pair of sharp fangs.

"I am Cain. And I am a vampire." The man said, his very voice freezing the air around them.

"Cain………" Reiha murmured, transfixed by the vampire's eyes.

"Yes." Cain said, smiling when he saw that he had the ice maiden firmly in his power. Too late, Reiha's doll shouted in alarm, trying to get her to snap out of it, but nothing worked. It was too late for both of them.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Larva panted as he dashed through the shadows with Miyu in his arms. 

"Larva! What is the matter with you?! Who was that guy back there?!" Miyu asked, raising her voice for the first time in many years. 

"Cain." Larva said, as he reached up and produced a new cloak from midair and set Miyu down in one fluid movement. 

"Who is Cain?" Miyu asked, calming down quickly, even for her.

"Cain is an old enemy. The last time I saw him was a little over two hundred years ago." Larva said, as he sat down and rubbed his eyes, for once looking anything but calm. 

"Wow. That guy must have really rattled your nerves, Larva!" Shiina said, as she appeared next to the male shinma. Larva ignored Shiina's remark and closed his eyes. He could remember his first meeting with Cain very clearly. It was before he'd been sent to check out Africa for possible shinma colonization. He'd made a stop in England, so he could get a ship and a crew. He was aware that something out of the ordinary had happened only a few months before but had ignored the warnings of a few townsfolk to stay away from the place. The place they had mentioned was a town on the outskirts of London. The moment he'd stepped into the town, he could tell that something violent had occurred. Even though the bodies had since been buried, Larva could sense that there had been bodies strewn everywhere. 

"_I smell blood_…………._" _Larva thought, as he stepped through the silent town. As he got closer to the center of the town, another smell came to his sensitive nose.

"_Vampires! There were vampires here!_" Larva thought, as the smell became even stronger. 

"Well, well! What have we here? A shinma? Or another vampire, perhaps?" a sneering voice said, laced richly with a heavy French accent.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Larva demanded, fearlessly. The voice chuckled mockingly at him, as the owner revealed himself. The other man wore expensive clothing; a velvet suit that came complete with smoking jacket, a gold watch and chain, and a black Inverness cape. He wore his long, waist length blond hair tied loosely back away from his face and his bangs hovered weightlessly over his cat-like golden eyes.

"I am Cain. I have traveled far, but have not seen you before. Are you a vampire or shinma?" the stranger asked, taking a step in Larva's direction.

"Don't take another step. If you do I will kill you." Larva threatened, stepping back and getting his scythe out, ready for a fight.

"Are you nervous? Are you……..afraid of me?" Cain asked, in a false tone of hurt.

"I'm not afraid of you, vampire, but I do know that your kind have been known to kill shinma from time to time." Larva said, keeping his eyes on Cain, but averting his gaze from the eyes. 

"Ah, so you are a shinma! This should be entertaining!" Cain said, with evil glee, as he bit his finger and made a whip from his blood. Within a split second, a battle had begun. At first the two seemed evenly matched, but then Cain tricked Larva. He bit his finger again, this time producing a sword. After a few more moments of intense fighting, Larva landed hard on his left side, bruised and bleeding.

"Hmph. It's no wonder that shinma get killed by vampires……….you're a weakling. You're not even worth drinking from. Goodbye, shinma Larva." Cain sneered, before disappearing into thin air. Stifling a groan, Larva got to his feet and stumbled off, hoping that he could find someplace to rest before he could pass out. 

"_It took me almost a year to completely recover from my wounds. I was lucky that Garline had been in the area at that time, otherwise I would have died. What will happen now? How will we beat Cain? We're going to need some help. Serious help. Cain is not a vampire to be taken lightly._" Larva thought, coming to his senses when he found that Miyu was peering up at him with a slight look of worry on her face.

"Larva, is there something you're not telling us?" Miyu asked, sounding uncharacteristically worried. Larva shook his head and gently cupped Miyu's face in his hands.

"Miyu, there is nothing I can hide from you. We need to find some help. Someone who can help us beat Cain; but I don't know where to start." Larva said, honestly. Miyu looked thoughtful, then Shiina spoke up.

"Hey, I think I know of someone who can help us!" Shiina said, getting the attention of Larva and Miyu almost instantly.

"Tell us, Shiina." Miyu said, gently.

"There's a vampire who lives close to the business district in Tokyo. His name is Shido Tatsuhiko and he runs a detective agency. He specializes on hunting down NightBreeds; beings that are just below Shinma in power. He has two partners; a human named Yayoi and another vampire named Rihou." Shiina said, nearly falling over when she saw Larva and Miyu look at one another an exchange a rare smile. 

"Thank you, Shiina, you've been most helpful." Miyu said, getting a cheerful and egotistical look from Shiina (if it were possible for a shinma to look cheerful and egotistical). 

"Aren't I always?" Shiina asked, giving Larva a dirty look when he muttered something under his breath and put his mask back on.

"Don't start, you two. I don't want to have to get after you about being like Nagi and Ichirou." Miyu teased, managing to ruffle Larva's feathers a little more by just mentioning Yui's guardian and the shinma boy, Ichirou. 

Shido muttered an expletive under his breath as he got up from the floor. He'd fallen asleep in his computer chair (as usual) but this time had reclined a little bit too far and ended up on the floor. He could hear Yayoi, Rihou, and Guni laughing in the background and looked around the desk at them.

"It's not that funny, you three." Shido said, giving the three females the infamous anime flat-eyed look.

"It is, especially since I caught it on Polaroid!" Guni crowed, as she hefted the heavy camera out for all to see, put that down, then flew around with the newly developed picture, furthering Shido's frustration.

"Oh, Guni, would you like to have a first person view of what a wad of toilet paper sees before it gets flushed?" Shido threatened, before diving for Guni and running after her, while Yayoi and Rihou watched with amusement. No one was aware that two figures waited outside their door until Yayoi happened to glance that way.

"Shido! Guni! Clients!" Yayoi called, over the chaotic scene of Shido chasing Guni with a rolled up newspaper. Both of them stopped what they were doing and both went back to what they had been doing previously; Shido sitting at his desk and Guni hiding in the flowers.

"Come in!" Shido called, as the door opened and a young girl stuck her head in, giving the place and him an incredulous look before she entered, with an eerie looking man and rabbit-like creature in tow. 

"Is this Tatsuhiko Detective Agency?" the girl asked, quietly.

"Yes, it is." Shido replied.

"Such as it is." Yayoi muttered, getting an irritated look from Shido for her comment. 

"We're in need of your assistance." The girl said, calmly. Shido arched an eyebrow.

"Shido, that guy and the rabbit thing are shinma!" Guni whispered, as she eyed the two creatures warily. 

"I see that your green companion is a little leery of us." the girl said, coolly.

"For good reason! Shinma can sometimes be even worse than Breeds!" Guni said, bravely.

"It's not us you have to worry about; it's Cain." The man murmured, his voice slightly muffled by the mask he wore. Shido and his companions froze; they knew that name!

"Cain………………..how do you know about him?" Shido asked, suddenly dead serious. 

"I met him a long time ago, shortly after a slaughter in an English town." The man said, taking off his mask and looking Shido in the eye. Shido paled; he knew what event the male shinma was talking about. 

"Tell me, what are your names?" Shido asked, shaking himself out of his guilt-ridden thoughts and focusing on the business at hand. 

"I am Miyu, Guardian of the Shinma and this is my servant Larva. The smaller shinma is named Shiina. She's the one who suggested we come to you." The girl said, with the same calm tone she'd first used when she'd entered the room. 

"Guardian of the Shinma?" Rihou asked, obviously not understanding the meaning behind Miyu's title.

"She's guards the realm between the humans and the shinma, much like you and Shido do, only she's officially nominated for the job." Shiina said, matter-of-factly.

"So that's means she's a vampire, like us, Shido-san." Rihou said, looking over at Shido as she said that.

"Like you, but not quite. Now, I need to know if you will help us, Shido. From what Larva is willing to reveal, the more help we can get, the better." Miyu said, quietly. Shido appeared to think it over, then sighed and stood up.

"Shido-san?" Rihou asked, as she and Yayoi looked questioningly up at the male vampire. 

"Yes. I will help you. I've got too much at stake to refuse." Shido said, as he took Miyu's hand in his own and shook it. 

"May I come too, Shido-san?" Rihou asked, looking anxious about the whole thing.

"I………………oh all right. You may come along, Rihou. It's not like you'll listen to me and not follow if I left you here. Yayoi, do you and Guni also want to come along?" Shido asked.

"Sure, so long as you don't try to flush me again." Guni muttered.

"If I can be of any help, Shido." Yayoi said, as she loaded her gun, prepared for anything. 

"Okay. We've got a small team together, now what?" Shido asked.

"We go and collect Yui and Nagi. I should think that the Shi Clan will be laying low for a while, since Cain is terrorizing Japan." Miyu replied, as she opened the way to the shinma realm and the shortcut she and Larva usually took.

"Oh………………but who're Nagi and Yui?" Shido asked, as he and his companions stepped through the portal and disappeared without a trace. 


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Rihou gasped when a cold wind blew right into her face when they came out of the shinma realm.

"No………………" Miyu muttered, before taking off at a run.

"Miyu!" Shiina yelped, as Shido and Larva ran after her.

"Yui! Yui, where are you? Answer me!" Miyu shouted, becoming very concerned when she saw vast amounts of ice and snow around her.

"Are you looking for someone, little one?" Cain's voice asked, sounding like it was coming from all around her.

"Where are you?! What have you done to Yui and Nagi?" Miyu asked, furiously. Cain chuckled.

"They are safe, for the time being. Reiha is playing with them right now." Cain said, mockingly, as he appeared before Miyu.

"You……….bastard!" Miyu screamed, as she threw some fire at Cain. Cain smiled and dodged, then leaped in and grabbed Miyu by the wrist. 

"Come, come, lovely Miyu! You can't hate me that much! We have only just met!" Cain sneered, sadistically, as he traced Miyu's jaw with his fingers. He abruptly let go when something slashed his arm. 

"What?!" Cain snarled, when he saw both Larva and Shido standing there, their eyes practically glowing with fury. 

"So, shinma Larva, we meet again." Cain sneered, as he healed his wounds and faced the shinma. 

"You're going to wish we hadn't, Cain." Larva snarled, holding Miyu close to him as he said that. Miyu was shocked; she'd never seen Larva get so angry before. 

"Shido! So you are here too!" Cain said, sounding as though he was pleasantly surprised. Shido merely uttered a sound that was a cross between a snarl and a growl and narrowed his eyes. 

"Shido-san!" Rihou shouted, as she, Guni, and Yayoi caught up with them. Cain eyed the rest with some disdain, before he turned his attention back to Shido, Larva, and Miyu.

"If you want the girl and her guardian back alive, I suggest you come to Transylvania, otherwise, they might not exist for much longer." Cain said, before disappearing into the darkness again. 

"Great. Now we have to go to the home of the stereotypical vampire, Dracula." Shiina muttered, sarcasm dripping from her voice. 

"But how are we going to get to Transylvania? I don't think we can take the shinma realm all the way there." Shido said, matter-of-factly.

"The only way to make sure that you and Rihou make it, is that we find you some willing shinma partners." Miyu said, as she reopened the portal and led them all through it.

"Whoa, wait a minute! Are you suggesting that we become like you?" Shido asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"Yes, that is exactly what I am suggesting. You see, unlike the Breeds that you and Rihou chase, shinma are able to go into sunlight and not be harmed. So, if you take some of the blood of the shinma, you will also be able to endure sunlight." Miyu said. Shido and Rihou stood where they were with their mouths agape.

"Shido, Rihou, you might want to close you mouths before something flies into them." Yayoi suggested, dryly. 

"Shido, if Miyu didn't take the blood of a shinma, she would be a true vampire; unable to go into full sunlight and susceptible to all the typical vampire weaknesses." Larva said, quietly.

"And you wouldn't even be here right now, Larva!" Shiina added, before getting a dirty look from Larva.

"Well, we haven't got much to lose if we don't try it……….Let's do it." Rihou said, trusting in Miyu's judgment. 

"But where will we find two shinma that will want partners?" Shido asked, as they all walked through the shinma realm.

"I know of two; a brother and sister who want to see the human world but do not want to go stray. Follow me." Miyu said, as she led them off the beaten path and into the shadows beyond. They didn't get very far before they heard some loud arguing coming from in front of them.

"They're at it again………" Shiina muttered, as two young shinma walked onto the path; arguing the whole way.

"Excuse me……….." Yayoi said, trying to get the shinmas' attention. 

"Yes? What do you want?" the female asked, peevishly.

"What are you arguing about?" Yayoi asked.

"Kuroi wants to go out without Miyu's permission, I would rather remain here and not get into trouble. Thing is, he needs me to go through portals. He's been trying to get me to disobey the rules with him." The female shinma replied, casting a glance at her brother that could have melted the polar ice caps.

"Well, excuse me, Miss I'll Behave! I actually want to see the human world!" Kuroi retaliated, angrily, not even noticing that Miyu was standing there.

"Ahem!" Miyu cleared her throat, to get the siblings' attention. 

"Ack! It's Miyu!" Kuroi yelped, as he disappeared from sight.

"Kuroi, get down from there." Miyu said, with a deadpan expression on her face. Shido watched as the two shinma stood guiltily before the Shinma Guardian. 

"I have a proposition to make, Kuroi and Karai." Miyu said, getting eager expressions from the two shinma.

"Yes? What is it, Guardian Miyu?" Karai asked, her blue-green eyes shining with excitement.

"What would you say to being the partners of these two vampires? I am sure they will allow you to have adventures with them." Miyu suggested. 

"Who are the two vampires?" Kuroi asked. With a slight shuffling, Shido and Rihou were shoved to the front, so they could meet their potential shinma partners.

"This is Shido Tatsuhiko and Rihou Yamazaki. They are the two who need shinma partners. Karai strode up to Shido and looked closely at him.

"He's very young, Guardian Miyu. Are you sure he can handle keeping an eye on shinma?" Karai asked, getting a surprised look from Shido and a giggle from Rihou.

"I am quite sure." Miyu said, as Kuroi looked Rihou over.

"She's pretty, but also very young. She'll need protecting from time to time." Kuroi said, as he looked at the hopeful eyes of Rihou.

"But will you accept them as your partners?" Guni asked. Karai looked at her brother with hope in her eyes.

"Let's give this a try, Kuroi! What have we got to lose?" Karai asked.

"Our freedom is one thing we'll lose." Kuroi muttered.

"You'll have free run of the office and you will be able to do whatever you want (except murder) during the day. You will also be able to help with the detective work." Shido said.

"Sugoi! You're a detective?!" Karai asked, getting a face-fault from her brother for that response. Shido smiled and nodded, chuckling when Kuroi picked himself off of the ground. 

"I'm a detective in training, as a matter of fact!" Rihou said, cheerfully. 

"You wish." Guni muttered.

"What was that, Guni?!" Rihou snapped. Miyu sighed as an argument broke out between Rihou and Guni.

"Do you have to put up with this all the time, Shido?" Miyu asked. Shido merely nodded, as he rubbed his temple, feeling one of his headaches coming on.

"Wow…………..they argue worse than we do!" Kuroi said, as he and his sister watched the spectacle with dumbfounded looks on their faces. 

"So, what do you say, you two? Are you interested?" Shiina asked, as she bounced up to the brother and sister.

"I'm in! I'll be Shido's partner, if Rihou doesn't mind!" Karai said, enthusiastically, getting a sigh and a sweatdrop from her brother for that. Rihou smiled and nodded.

"I guess so. This might be my only chance to go and see the human realm." Kuroi said, as he stepped over to where Rihou stood.

"Okay, now what?" Shido asked, turning to Miyu for advice.

"You drink their blood." Miyu said, matter-of-factly. Shido and Rihou face faulted. 

"We do WHAT?!" Rihou yelped.

"Drink their blood. How do you think I got Larva to be my partner?" Miyu asked, as Larva shifted uncomfortably behind her. 

"Okay, okay, I think we got the message. Let's do this." Shido said, as he gently lifted Karai's long silver hair away from her neck and sank his fangs into her neck. After a few minutes, Shido came away from Karai and stood back. 

"Well? How do you feel?" Miyu asked.

"Strange. I don't feel the same as I did a little while ago. I just feel different." Shido murmured, as his new partner helped him sit down.

"Rihou, it's your turn." Miyu said, as Rihou turned to Kuroi.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way." Rihou said. Kuroi seemed surprised by that, but didn't let himself admit it. He winced when Rihou sank her fangs into his neck, but then felt at ease. After a few moments, Rihou backed away, looking apologetic about what had just been done.

"How do you feel, Rihou?" Shiina asked.

"Like Shido-san had said before, strange. This is an unusual feeling." Rihou said. 

"Now we are ready to go to Transylvania." Miyu said, as they all prepared to leave the shinma realm. They emerged into full sunlight.

"Shido! Rihou!" Yayoi yelped, then realized that the two were not evaporating or burning.

"It worked! Miyu, it worked!" Shido shouted, excitedly.

"But of course. I have been a Guardian all my life, so I know a few things. Come on, we must see about getting some airplane tickets." Miyu said, as she led the way, and as Shido reveled in the sunlight, enjoying the light he'd been denied for almost two hundred and fifty years.


End file.
